


live out a legacy (i'll seize my destiny)

by trixstar



Series: Neji Week 2020 [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, Gen, Memories, Neji Week 2020, Recovered Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trixstar/pseuds/trixstar
Summary: Every now and then, Neji sees snippets of a life he thinks he used to have.Written for Neji Week Day 1 Prompt: Memory
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata & Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji & Rock Lee & Tenten, Hyuuga Neji/Tenten
Series: Neji Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806631
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	live out a legacy (i'll seize my destiny)

**Author's Note:**

> i crammed this in a day i hope y'all enjoy
> 
> title taken from the song Take What You Got from the musical Kinky Boots

The first time it happens, Neji is only a child.

He’s meeting Hinata for the first time ever and anticipation bubbles inside him, persistent and plentiful. They’d prepared him for this. A considerable chunk of his four years of living were used to prime him for the very occasion.

He’d been taught that Hiashi Hyuuga and Hinata Hyuuga lived leagues above them. Same corporate lifestyle, but vastly different perks and power. He doesn’t quite understand most of the specifics yet, (he’s a _child_ ) but if there is one thing he retains, one thing everyone _makes_ him retain, is that they are _important_. Neji and his father? Not as much.

And that would likely never change.

All things considered, there are more than a few expectations.

Despite the solemnity and seriousness surrounding the meeting, Neji had always looked forward to it. Hinata was only a year younger than him. That meant they could be friends, couldn’t they? Neji didn’t have many of those. Him being a Hyuuga was to thank for that. And being in the branch house, no less.

It wasn’t ideal.

So he’s excited. Excited on the car drive to Hiashi’s mansion, excited as he bounds out of the car behind his father, and absolutely brimming when they’re finally face-to-face.

Well, not really?

His cousin is standing behind her father, shyly peeking at Neji with a skittish glint in her eyes. She clutches at Hiashi’s slacks tightly, despite the man’s visible disdain.

When he and Hinata meet eyes, a chill runs down his spine and, for a moment, he’s seeing something else.

They’re in kimono and there are much more Hyuuga here and they’re outside and his father is covering his forehead, the other branch members are too. Why are they doing that? What are they hiding? What is there to hi-

“Neji.”

Neji jolts. Hiashi and Hizashi are looking at him expectantly. (It’s a little unsettling considering they’re twins.)

“Yes, father?”

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Hizashi prods.

Neji blinks.

“I think she’s adorable, father.”

Hinata turns bright red.

After he and his father are done apologizing profusely, more formal introductions are made, and he and Hinata are finally left to their own devices, Neji thinks about how sudden that had been.

_“You’re adorable.”_

The statement had escaped his mouth so easily, so _familiar_. As if he’d said it before, despite _knowing_ he hasn’t. This is first time he’s meeting Hinata, the first time he’s talking to her.

Where had it come from?

“Neji-niisan?”

Hinata’s voice breaks him out of his reverie.

“Yes, Lady Hinata?”

She stares at him curiously, attention off of the puzzle they’d been doing.

“A-Are you ok?”

Neji stills.

_“Neji-nii, are you okay?”_

_“Yes, Lady Hinata. Let’s keep training.”  
  
_ Neji shakes his head.

“Yes, don’t worry. I was just thinking of something.”

“O-Oh, ok.”

They continue the puzzle and Neji can’t help but feel like this is only the beginning.

* * *

_"Neji. It is your destiny to protect Hinata and to protect the Hyuuga bloodline.”_

_“Yes, father.”_

_“You live for her sake, understand?”_

_“Yes, father.”_

* * *

It becomes a thing.  
  
Random flashes of... _something_ sprinkled in his day-to-day routine.

They only lasted seconds. Just quick glimpses of another version of events that would throw him off momentarily. Walking with Hinata suddenly became him defending her from masked assailants. Playing chess with his father suddenly became him _fighting_ the man, practiced hands and swift movements.

Staring up at Hiashi suddenly filled him with an intense, unexplainable feeling of _spite_.

He always makes sure to recover quickly, so no one worries, but the distress in Hinata’s eyes and the concern in his father’s tell him he’s not doing a good job at it.

Neji never does tell anyone though. 

“You’ve been behaving oddly, Neji.”

He freezes at the sound of Hiashi’s voice, stern and piercing. He hadn’t even notice him enter his room.

“I’m sorry, Uncle,” he responds because he really is.

Neji does not understand whatever is happening to him. All he knows is that he sees things he shouldn’t and that a part of him _loathes_ Hiashi Hyuuga and every other member of the main family for no reason.  
  
“Do you want to talk about it?” The man asks, equal parts awkward, and concerned. He’s not good at this, Neji has learned. He’s been a witness to a handful of his uncle and Hinata’s stilted interactions.

“It’s fine, Uncle. I’ve just had a lot to think about,” he says reassuringly. Neji smiles at the man for good measure. “Lady Hinata’s pre-tests are coming soon, so I’ve just been trying to prepare good practice tests.”

Hiashi nods, seemingly convinced. “I see. Carry on.” He makes a move to exit the room, but Neji is quick to open his mouth. He’s been itching to ask his uncle a question.

“When is father coming back from his business trip?”  
  
“He should be back soon,” Hiashi responds and, without another word, leaves Neji to bathe in the silence.  
  
It must be his imagination, he thinks, it _must_ be. Because the words somehow leave Neji winded, dread filling his insides, and he _hates_ that he doesn’t know why.

* * *

_Neji is awoken by the clammor outside._

_There are yells, tears, and other sounds of discord. He makes himself presentable quickly before heading for the door, small limbs doing their best to slide it open._

_When he is outside, the other Hyuuga turn silent. Neji feels cold._

_In the dead of a moonless night, Hiashi Hyuuga walks towards him._

_“I’m sorry, Neji,” he says and Neji somehow just knows what his uncle is pertaining to._

_He feels himself fall apart._

* * *

The next notable instance only lasts a second, but it hurts the most. A flash of another funeral procession for his father in some other life where things apparently aren’t all that different.

* * *

_“N-Neji-niisan, are you-“_

_“Lady Hinata, leave me alone.”_

* * *

The visions begin lasting longer as Neji grows.

He starts going to school with them playing in his mind, sits through his classes as they flash before his eyes obnoxiously every once in a while. He’s lost count of the times he’s zoned out during lessons.

Over time he’s learned to ignore them. Just as he did everyone else.

Neji didn't come to school to make friends. He came to learn, to graduate, to have the necessary assets to aid the Hyuuga when he eventually entered the corporate world.

All rather mature thoughts for a grade schooler, he's been told.

He knows everyone talks about him behind his back. Teachers and students alike. Neji is quiet and distant in a way that _invites_ gossip, not deflect it.

"He's a Hyuuga, right? Look at his eyes."

"Neji is rather quiet for his age, isn't he?"

"I heard his dad died."

"Poor boy, orphaned so young."

He _hates_ how he feels like he's heard these all before.

So, yes, this is why Neji opts to ignore anyone and anything unimportant to his goals.

And he almost succeeds.

Almost.

It seemed you couldn't really ignore things, much less, _people_ that actively tried to get your attention.

For the umpteenth time this month, Neji feels an eraser hit the back of his head. He holds back a sigh and carefully _does not_ turn around.

"Tenten, stop it," Neji hears Lee hiss behind him. It's hard not to considering just how loud the boy generally was.

It takes a few seconds before Neji hears the inevitable reply.

"That's 28 days in a row now. I'm going to get him to turn eventually, Lee." Tenten sounds determined.

"You're going to get in trouble!"

"So are you if you keep shouting!"

"Stop throwing stuff at Neji-kun!"

"Not until he turns! Besides, can't you just appreciate how good my aim is? 28 days and I haven't missed!"

Neji honestly wouldn't have given either of them the time of day. He had rules. Neither of these people would help him achieve his goals.

Except it's _them_. And he's always paid attention to _them_.

To the familiar twin buns and deep, brown eyes along with the bowl cut and the sheer amount of green.

_"Introduce yourself my youthful pupils!"_

_"My name's Tenten. I like using weapons."_

_"I am Rock Lee and I specialize in taijutsu!"_

_"...Neji Hyuuga. My fighting style is called the Gentle Fist."_

They are as familiar as the whispers around him.

He doesn't know what makes today different, but for the first time in 28 days, Neji bends down, and picks up the eraser. He stands from his desk in the middle of class and places the projectile on Tenten's desk. He is only mildly aware of the looks he's attracting from everyone else in the room.

"Congratulations," he says dryly. "You've finally succeeded."

He's not surprised when the girl smirks. He's seen it before. It's endearing as it is mischievous.

"Knew it was just a matter of time."

Beside them, Lee's face is contorted in absolute horror.

* * *

_Neji always takes the long way back to the Hyuuga Compound._

_The longer route dissuaded any fangirls from following him home and it was good exercise for whenever he allowed himself a reprieve from his usual training regime._

_It also conveniently passed by two particular clearings._

_Neji walks by slowly as he watches the girl with twin buns in his peripheral vision. Just like everyday, she hits all her targets with frightening accuracy and with enough force to break the wood where the kunai land._

_He walks by the second clearing even more slowly as he watches the boy with large, unblinking eyes, polish his taijutsu (because it's all he has, Neji finds out later.) He is powerful strikes and speed personified._

_Neji finds them both commendable._

_Which is why ,when the time comes, and their names are read off a list consecutively, he supposes this will do.  
  
Then Might Guy appears before them and he’s thrown in for a loop because no one could've been prepared for that._

* * *

They're 14 and Hinata thinks he hates her.

"Can you really blame her?" Tenten asks, reaching across the table to steal a few of his fries. He hopes she appreciates the fact he salted them for her. “Don’t you ignore her every chance you get?”

Neji shakes his head. “I acknowledge her presence.”

“Sure you do,” Tenten drawls.

He scowls at her. She shrugs. He guesses he should be thankful that she and Lee are accustomed to his aloofness.  
  
“Then you must correct the misunderstanding, Neji!” Lee booms out because he is physically incapable of _ever_ using an inside voice. “Tell Hinata-san you don’t hate her.”  
  
“I don’t think he's even supposed to know, Lee. How do you think she’ll react if he suddenly confronts her with this?”  
  
“I’d imagine she would be pleased! She and Neji could work out their differences.”

“She’d be taken off-guard.”

“Then let us help her ease into it!”

“ _Us_?”

“Of course! Neji is our dear friend. Shouldn’t we help him?”  
  
While his friends bicker over his personal life, Neji ponders some things.

He didn’t _hate_ Hinata. He just... being near her after his father’s death had been hard. The unexplainable hatred he had felt for Hiashi had amplified for some reason and suddenly the man was no longer the only person subject to Neji’s anger.  
  
He started avoiding her somewhere along the way, but coincidences are had and Neji’s not sure if he’s left her with any good impressions during any one of them.  
  
The fact that he even knows about the whole hating bit is due to pure coincidence.

He, Lee, and Tenten had just been walking home, much later than usual because of extracurricular activities. He hadn’t known Hinata had had any too, yet, lo and behold, not far from the school, he sees her back with that of two other boys’.

Lee and Tenten had looked at him unsurely, but before Neji had been able to say anything, the conversation ahead of them had flowed through.

“Doesn’t his job require him _not_ to hate you?”

Neji had stilled.

Ahead of them, Hinata’s pace slowed. “H-He doesn’t have an obligation to me, Kiba-kun. Neji-niisan is his own person.”  
  
“Yeah, but, like,” _Kiba-kun_ stretches, “isn’t he below you or something?”

Neji had felt rage fill his veins, hot and intense. He’d been so overcome by it that he hadn’t even noticed when Tenten had taken hold of his arm tightly or how Lee quickened his pace so that he walked ahead of them.  
  
 _“You live for her sake, Neji. Nothing more, nothing less.”  
_  
“Technically, yes,” Hinata pipes up, “but Neji-nii has always been better than me.”

“Eh?”

“H-He’s smarter, more capable, reliable, and...” Hinata trails off.

“And?”

“...And he _hates_ me.”

 _“You don’t make a good shinobi. Forfeit now, Lady Hinata.”  
  
_ Neji had stopped walking, his companions following suit. He lets Hinata, Kiba, and the other boy escape their view. It’s too much, he thinks. His head is aching and his chest feels heavy. Lee and Tenten take hold of him, grounding and reassuring. They know this happens to him.

It’s too much.  
  
But, when he thinks about it, so is what he’s doing to her.  
  
“Neither of you have to help me,” his voice cuts through Lee and Tenten’s bickering. “I’ll make peace with her by myself.”  
  
They stop arguing and turn to look at him, interest and wonder evident in their eyes.  
  
“You sure?” Tenten asks him.  
  
He nods and says nothing more, finally focusing on his lunch.

The next day, when he and Tenten run into Hinata and Kiba outside the faculty room, he nods at her.

“Lady Hinata,” he says.

Hinata’s eyes go wide and Neji takes pleasure in the sight of Kiba’s jaw dropping open. Beside him, Tenten snickers.  
  
“G-Good morning, Neji-niisan,” she finally manages to stutter out, nodding back jerkily.  
  
It’s a small step, but a step nonetheless. When they walk away after, back towards their classroom, Neji feels content.

“Nicely done,” Tenten tells him, genuine tone edged with light teasing.

He only grunts in his response.

He’s certain now that he loathed Hinata and the rest of the main house in the visions, if the spike of... _something_ he had felt when he greeted her is any indication.

But this life didn’t have to play out the same way it had in the visions.

Neji would pave his own path.

* * *

_“In the end, a loser is a loser. They cannot change,” Neji says coldly, turned away from Hinata’s bloodied body._

_Lee holds back Naruto Uzumaki as he charges, fists clenched and teeth bared. Neji is annoyed._

_“You’re going down,” Naruto tells him as Hinata’s blood drips through his fingers._

_Neji snorts._

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki is a brat with a mouth as gigantic as his apparent love for the gaudy color that is orange.

“I don’t like him,” he’s said to Hinata multiple times because he really doesn’t.

She only ever blushed in response.

Much like she was now, grinning at the idiot as he blabbered on about God knows what. Neji’s waiting for the pink-haired gi- _Sakura_ (he can’t believe he forgets) to hit him again.

“Glare at him too much and your face will get stuck like that,” Tenten teases as she walks up to him, leaning forward against the railing on the roof. “Though I’m surprised it hasn’t already.”

Neji snorts in response. “I’m glad you’re so concerned.”

“It’s what a good friend does. Don’t worry about it.”

He continues watching the picnic below in the place of a response.

Sakura does, in fact, hit Naruto again and it’s more satisfying that he thought it would be. She hits Lee too though, but Neji thinks it’s warranted considering how close Lee was leaning into her personal space.

Tenten winces beside him. “He really should let up on the courting. He’s never going to win Sakura’s heart like that.”

“You think he’ll ever win anybody’s heart?”

“Hey!” Tenten pouts. “Don’t be so mean. You never know. Lee’s a good guy.”

“You’re sure _you_ aren’t in love with him?”

He chuckles when Tenten’s face takes on an expression of disgust.

“Ew, no. I love him, but _no_. Bleh.” She mimes throwing up.

Neji lets the silence settle over them before opening his mouth again. “Why did you come up here anyway? You looked like you were having fun ogling the Uchiha down there.”

“He’s cute, okay? Not going to touch that though, Sakura and Ino would maim me.” She shudders. “I came up here for you.”

“For me?”

“Yeah, come down, stop being a loner. If _the Uchiha_ can socialize, I’m sure you can too.”

Neji’s eyes move towards his cousin’s small form, sandwiched between Kiba and Naruto fighting over a juice box (they’re _13_. Why are they doing that?) “Did Lady Hinata send you?”

Tenten shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you down there though.”

“ _Naruto_ is down there,” he drawls.

She snorts. “Remind me why you hate him so much again?”

“He’s loud. Attention-seeking. A troublemaker. Lady Hinata can do better.”

Tenten hums thoughtfully. “You see it too then?”

“She is anything but subtle.”

“True, but I don’t think that’s the main reason,” Tenten finishes softly.

Neji closes his eyes. She’s noticed then. Of course she has. Her eyes are as sharp as the weapons he sees her wielding in his visions.

“You’re aware?”

“Hard not to be. You’re always so _off_ around him.”

Neji shakes his head, scowl in place. “It’s not something I can help.”

She sighs. “I know.”  
  
Hinata used to be the biggest trigger to his visions. _Used to be_. Now, for some damn reason, it is Naruto Uzumaki and things are a hundred times worse.

Just a glimpse of the blond is enough to awaken an onslaught of visions. They make his head ache, his body numb, and he has to stop doing anything he’s in the middle of to feel any sort of relief.

The visions are more peculiar because of how they actually _repeat_ these days. Playing in his mind over and over again as if to prove a point.  
  
 _“Main family... Branch family... I don’t know what the hell happened but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers... I will never forgive!”  
  
“I don’t know how much it hurt that your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake!”  
  
“Because... I was called a loser.”_

He’s especially annoyed when the visions play Naruto kicking his ass all the damn time.  
  
“I can’t be near him.”

“...Don’t you want to at least try?” It’s unusual to see eyes usually so confident glint with hesitance. “Think of it as exposure therapy,” Tenten offers.  
  
He meets her eyes for the first time during the conversation.

“Tenten...”

“Please?” She gives him a _look_. “I’ll pull you out if Naruto gets to you too much, but can you try? Hinata, Lee, and I would love it if you finally joined in.”

It happens again then and there.

Neji is swept back to a time where he and Tenten are standing across each other, kunai littering the area around him. They form a perfect arc around his body. She is panting, tired, but her brown eyes continue to challenge him.

Then they turn as blue as the sky and she is Naruto and Neji’s being punched in the jaw. And it _hurts_. _It hurts_ , he _can’t move_. He’s tired and his heart is aching and he feels tears stinging his eyes-

Then he’s back and Tenten’s brown eyes are staring at him, wide and scared.

“Are you o-“

“Let’s go.”

He walks past her.

Neji could not move in that vision, but here he will choose to move forward.  
  
(Even when Naruto greets him with a muffin to the face and all hell breaks loose.)

* * *

_Naruto beats him._

_Hiashi tells him the truth before he bows down in apology._

_Neji feels so much lighter now as he watches the birds fly across the heavens._

* * *

Neji feels more free from then on.

He, Tenten, and Lee become embedded in their juniors’ friend group. Besides Lee and Tenten, Neji hadn’t bothered with anyone else in their year. Tenten had always seemed content with them too.

And, well, Lee was Lee.

So the transition is smooth.

Neji goes to the library with Shikamaru some days, unbothered that the boy naps more than he reads. He makes up for it anyway with a rousing game of Shogi. Sometimes, he and Sasuke walk to their clubs together, having found out they shared nearly every one. He even lets Sakura and Ino braid his hair every once in a while.

Neji can say he’s a lot happier now.  
  
The visions still come and go, but they are significantly tamer. The snippets with Naruto had been a turning point apparently, because there aren’t any visions like that again. There is no more pain.  
  
The worst of it is over.  
  
Nowadays, he sees snapshots of days spent in idle. Meditation under a tree, lazy sparring with Lee and Tenten, drinking tea with Hinata.  
  
Tenten is the only person he ever tells.

“What do you think they mean?” She asks him one day.

They’re in the gym hours after classes, watching Guy and Lee spar. They always took their time before tournaments and Neji and Tenten liked to watch.  
  
“I think... I think they’re memories.” He doesn’t worry about sounding crazy. It’s _her_. “They feel too familiar to just be dreams I remember late.”  
  
Tenten makes a thoughtful sound of agreement. “That would explain how your emotions and body react.”  
  
“My thoughts exactly.”  
  
They watch Lee land a strike right in the middle of Guy’s chest and clap unironically. Lee flashes them a smile before getting a kick in the shin.  
  
“...Can I ask you a question?”  
  
Neji tears his eyes away from the fight and raises an eyebrow. “What is it?”  
  
Tenten meets his gaze with hesitation. “Have I appeared in your visions?”

Neji stills.

He hadn’t expected that question.

He’d never told her she was in any of them. Neji avoided as much details as possible in fear that even the mere mention of the instances will trigger them to replay. He’d only ever told her Hinata and Naruto were in them.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Tenten eyes him curiously. “Not going to elaborate?”

“No.” His response is curt.

She pouts. “Figures. Jerk.” There’s no heat in it. There never is.

“Thank you,” he responds.  
  
He does not elaborate because he doesn’t think it would be wise of him to tell her about what he sees. About the warmth he feels when he sees her head in his lap as he meditates, about how delicately he touches her when she is injured, about how he is absolutely sure he trusted her with his life then.

Tenten sticks out her tongue at him and as the familiar feeling bubbles in his chest once more, he thinks about how some things don’t change.

* * *

_Neji becomes a Jonin in a flash. No one is surprised._

_“My youthful rival, congratulations! I will catch up with you soon!”_

_“That’s my pupil! Advancing to such a high rank in the earlier days of his springtime of youth!”_

_“Congratulations, Neji-niisan. I’m happy for you.”_

_“Congratulations, Neji. Hizashi would be proud.”_

_He accepts all these gracefully, but there is only one congratulatory message he looks forward to._

_“About time you made it,” Tenten tells him cheekily before going in for a hug, tight and full of well-wishes. She’s the only one who can touch him so freely, a pleasure most of the other people in his life only earn once in a blue moon._

_He returns the gesture and makes sure to hug just as tightly._

* * *

He’s 17 when he gets his license, making him the first one among their friends to get one.  
  
“Let me see!” Naruto snatches the card from Neji’s hands. “Cool! This is neat,” he says, holding the piece of plastic against the light.

Ino leans over his shoulder. “That picture doesn’t do you justice though. You’re _much_ more handsome in person,” she tells Neji sincerely. He shares a look with Sai, _her boyfriend_ , who shrugs.  
  
“The picture’s alright though?” Kiba pipes up, also stealing a glance.

Neji resigns himself to the sidelines as they pass the card around. Even Gaara, who’s just visiting examines it closely. Tenten giggles at the look on his face.

“Let them marvel at your physical proof of superiority.”

“It’s just a license. Temari and Kankuro have them too, don’t they?”

“Yeah, but you’re the first among us Konoha kids,” she says before smiling in that mischievous way that makes his heart rate pick up.

His phone buzzes and he’s quick to check the message. After reading its contents, he holds his hand out for Lee to give him back his license and beckons for Naruto to come over.  
  
“You got the text too?”

“Yup! Let’s get going!”  
  
Tenten cocks her head at them. “Hinata?”

Neji nods. “She and Uncle just landed. We’ll be going now,” he says the last part more to the rest of the room than to Tenten.

The others say their farewells and he and Naruto make their way to his car, the latter blabbering about just how much he had _missed_ Hinata. Neji tunes this out. He only stops in his tracks when Tenten calls out after him.  
  
“Wait up!”

Neji raises an eyebrow as she skids to a stop in front of him.  
  
“Yes?”

“My congratulations present. For getting your license. I forgot to give it.”  
  
Behind them, Naruto’s mouth forms an O and he quietly slips into the car.

“No one needed to get me a gift.”

Tenten is blushing. “But I wanted to anyway. Close your eyes.”

Neji feels his heart speed up, but he ultimately obeys.

And then a flash.

_“Close your eyes,” she says._

_“What are you going to do?”_

_“...This,” Tenten says before placing a kiss on his curse mark, soft and fleeting._

_Neji stares at her, dumbfounded and mind racing._

_“Don’t die, okay?” She tells him._

Much like the vision, Neji feels pressure on his forehead, tender and quick.

When he opens his eyes, Tenten is redder, but a smile plagues her face. Neji guesses he’s turned into a similar shade.

“See you soon.”

He grins, hopes it is enough for now. “I’ll see you.”

* * *

_War is approaching and people in Konoha are eager to say their goodbyes.  
_

_He bows to Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi, tells them it has been an honor defending the Hyuuga and should he fall, he just wanted them to know that he hasn’t bore any ill will for them in years, that he loved them. Hinata cries, hugs him tight and refuses to let go. Hanabi tells him he better come back alive or she’ll have lost a punching bag.  
  
Hiashi looks at him with a million emotions flickering in his eyes before settling for a nod. For a split second, Neji pretends this is his father, wishing him luck for battle with no clear victor.  
  
He thanks Guy. For putting up with his baggage back when he was blind and foolish, and for training Neji to become the shinobi he is today. Guy cries of course and he hugs him so tight Neji actually fears for his bones._

_He thanks Lee for being a good rival and an even better friend. Always so encouraging and filled with good intentions. Tears sting Lee’s eyes (Guy had told him to hold back) as the boy shakes Neji’s hand and tells them that they will spar as soon as the war is over. The ultimate measure of strength, he had said and Neji had acquiesced._

_He thanks a handful of other people before he eventually gets to her._

_“Thank you,” Neji says._

_“For?” Tenten asks._

_“Everything.”_

* * *

“I see them!” Naruto yells before bounding out of the car. Neji sighs as he reaches over to close the door the blond had left open. The younger boy has grown on him, yes, but a part of Neji still firmly believes Hinata can do better.

From his car, he sees Naruto greet his cousin with an enthusiastic hug. Hinata laughs gleefully and Neji feels himself smile. There’s about to be a kiss thrown in that reunion as well, but Hiashi is quick to stand between them.

Neji honks and Hinata grins in his direction. Naruto grabs a bunch of their luggage and the trio make their way to the car, crossing the wide street that separates the airport and the parking lot.

Neji feels his blood run cold when he sees it.

A truck is heading towards them, filled with construction materials and going _far too fast_. Hiashi sees it and he freezes. So do Hinata and Naruto when they realize no running will move them away from what is about to happen.

Before he even registers it, Neji’s foot slams against the gas pedal and he’s going as fast as he can towards them. If he put himself between them, they could survive, is his logic and, as flawed as it is, _at least he is trying._

_“You live for her, Neji.”_

_“Because you called me a loser!”_

_“Destiny can be changed.”_

_“Don’t die, okay?”_

Before Neji’s world explodes into shades of red, he thinks about how it’s been a long time he’s felt pain so familiar.

* * *

_Spikes protrude from his body._

_He feels his lungs fill with blood._

_His body is limp against Naruto’s._

_Hinata is crying. So are Lee and Naruto and, from a distance, he thinks he meets Tenten’s wide, horrified eyes._

_He’s sorry he has to go like this, but, at the same time, he’s thankful this is how it ends._

* * *

Something breaks.

* * *

Neji wakes up in a white room.

He is disoriented, alone, and he cannot move his body. His mind feels numb, struggling to familiarize itself with as much of his surroundings with unfocused eyes.

He thinks he’s in heaven for a split second before the sound of a door slamming jolts him.

He turns and meets Hinata’s eyes.

“N-Neji-niisan...”

“Lady Hinata,” he manages despite the pain in his chest. She looked like she needed to hear it.

Hinata bursts out crying before calling for someone and rushing to his side. Hiashi quickly makes his way in, and his room is slowly starts filling in with men and women in white. Hospital staff, he finally recognizes.

Before the door closes, he thinks he sees a head of blond hair outside. Along with twin buns and two bowl cuts. When he hears two people start wailing outside, Neji cannot help but smile.

Everything still hurts, but Neji is _alive_.

Against all odds, _Neji is alive_.

* * *

“You’re an _idiot_. I _hate_ you. _I hate you so much_. We thought you _died_. I-I...” Tenten trails off before sucking in a breath, raw and vulnerable. He hates that he’s made her cry so much.

Neji pulls her close even if it pains him and he feels the wetness of her eyes against his neck. Over her head, he meets Lee’s own watery eyes as well as that of a few other people. Naruto and Hinata have tears in the corner of theirs and Neji knows the only reason Guy isn’t crying is because he’s already had his fill while Neji was asleep.

He strokes Tenten’s head gently.

“You thought I’d go down that easily?”

He wants to chuckle at how fast she detaches herself from him, how hard she’s trying to look angry with puffy eyes and shaky breathing.

“You- You!”

Neji leans forward and plants a kiss on her forehead, much like the one she had given him. (He ignores the squeak Hinata makes and the thumbs up Guy and Guy Jr. give him.)

“I’m here. I’m alive,” he reassures her.

“I know. I know,” she whispers before all but falling against him.

* * *

As expected, it takes him a long time to recover.

The process is slow and tedious. He needs help to do everything, even has to learn how to walk again. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t get frustrated most of the time.

But they’re with him every step of the way. Tenten at his side, Lee supporting him from behind and Hinata holding his hand.

He can do this, he thinks. As long as he has them, he has no doubts.

* * *

It’s not until he’s finally discharged that Neji realizes something.

“You alright?” Tenten asks him as they exit the hospital. He’s stopped walking- _limping_ , really and she had followed suit.

“The visions,” he says, “they don’t happen anymore.”

Tenten’s eyes widen.

“Wait, _really_?”

“Yes.”

“Since _when_?”

“The last one was right before the accident,” Neji recalls.

Tenten looks puzzled. “Huh.”

“I don’t know what it means,” he says unsurely.

She does not answer for a while, only lets the silence settle over them. Eventually, she steps closer and takes his face in her hands.

“Does it matter?”

Neji blinks. Did it?

“They’re all in the past now, aren’t they?” Tenten’s voice is soft as she speaks the truth.

What good is there in dwelling over a forgotten past?

He leans his forehead against hers and take a breath.

_“You will live and die for the main family.”_

_“Destiny is sealed. Failure is inevitable.”_

_“A caged bird.”_

"You're right," he finally says because she is.

Neji has kept moving forward all his life and he will not stop now.

**Author's Note:**

> ngl pretty happy with how this turned out uwu even if it was supposed to be more gen lmao my nejiten ass couldnt help it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ kudos and comments appreciated!
> 
> also idk medical stuff so im sorry if smol recovery part seems inaccurate for someone who just survived getting hit by a big ass truck going at full speed,,,,,,,
> 
> feel free to hit me up on [my twitter](https://twitter.com/trixstarsss) where i'll keep raving about neji the whole week and til the end of all time


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